Marionette base-ball performance



T. H. JACKSON.

MARLONETTE BASE BALL PERFORMANCE.

APELICATION men mm. 30. 1916.

1 1 95,023 Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

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T. H. JACKSON. MARIONETTE BASE BALL PERFORMANCE.

Y APPLICATION EILED MAR. 30, 1916.

1,1 95,023. Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS H. JACKSON, 0}! SCRAN'I'ON, PENNSYLVANIA.

MARIONETTE BASE-BALL PERFORMANCE.

Application filed March 30, 1916. Serial No. 87,816.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS H. JACKSON, acitizen of the United States, residing at Scranton, in the county ofLackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Marionette Base-Ball Performances; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to games and toys, and more especially to figuretoys; and the object of the same is to produce a theatrical appliance bywhich a game of baseball can be depicted by means of figure toysincluding the ball, the bat, and marionettes repre senting the playersand the umpire.

The present invention is an improvement on my patent issued February 18,1913, bearing No. 1,053,817, in which was described and claimed a playfigure or marionette having in one hand a small electric bulb which wasilluminated when it was desired to indicate that the hand held the ball;and the basic principle of the present idea lies in the fact that Iemploy an inflatable ball which is enlarged by pressure exerted.

by the operator on a distant bulb, and communicated to the ball by meansof fluid passing through a flexible conduit.

WVhile I have hereinafter described the invention as carried out on thepneumatic principle and I do prefer to use air, it is clear that someother fluid might be em-- ployed without departing from the principleinvolved. If this fluid were a liquid, the term hydraulic would be moreaccurate;

but for purposes of the present invention we may assume that the termpneumatic covers any fluid which when forced along the conduit willenlarge or otherwise alter the physical characteristics of the ball sothat it may be seen by the audience, while at other times it is notobserved. Therefore each player has a ball constantly in one hand thoughit is not always visible to the audience. There are other figure toysemployed, such as balls separate from the players and having their owncontrols, and a bat with its control. My preferred manner of carryingout the lnvention is set forth in the following specificatlon and shownin the drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a sectional view through a stageadapted for this performance, the half of the stage which is visiblebeing shown slightly in perspective, and this view is also employed toshow one form of the ball figure. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional viewof another form of the ball figure, and Fig. 3 a perspective 'view ofthe bat figure. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are sectional views of one of themarionettes or player figures.

The use of a luminous bulb to indicate the ball in play is now quitecommon in apparatus of this character, but it has the objections thatthe bulb is often broken or the wires parted in the rough and rapidmanipulation which the figure must undergo, the filament at times burnsout or the battery fails, especially where the battery is a portable onecarried by the operator, and. at best a light canonly typify a baseball.I have adopted an inflatable ball of spherical shape which might bewhite in color and probably marked with lines to simulate the stitches;and I prefer to make this ball of flexible but durable-material, and toconnect it by a flexible and durable conduit such as a fine rubbertube,with a bulb attached to the handle of the figure'and therefore always inposition to be compressed by' the operator. This bulb I prefer to makeof heavier rubber, so

molded that it normally-expands and will therefore draw the air throughthe conduit and exhaust it from the ball, so that the latter is forciblycollapsed and almost if not entirely disappears from View. Thereforewhenever the operator presses the bulb while holding the handle, heknows without looking through the platform that the ball is expanded andis visible tothe audience, and

it follows that as he runs along beneath the platform he moves the toyby means of its handle and imitates the movements of the ball while inplay. On the other hand, if he marionettes, he can Support it by thehandle and manipulate it by its manuals or keys without pressing thebulb, and therefore he knows that he is depicting the movements of aplayer who has no ball in his possession which is visible to theaudience.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 1 designates astage or platform whose front is closed to the audience as at 2, 3 isthe proscenium arch, and 4: and 5 are the drops. Upon the platform isdepicted the ordinary baseball diamond or field, only half of which isshown in Fig. 1, and through the samearecut slots as 6 extending acrossthe diamond and out into the field from or radial to the home base 7,and other slots 8 on the outer lines of the diamond and across the fieldin various directions forming no part of the pres- 1 cut invention. Iprefer that the stage front 2 shall raise the platform so high that theoperators may stand upright beneath 1t as indicated, and they willtherefore have the free use of their hands for manipulating the figuretoys yet to be described, and may easily run from one point to anotherwhen carrying a marionette to simulate its movement over the field. Ifthe auditorium be not so pitched toward the stage as to give allspectators a clear view of the baseball field, the platform should bepitched toward the audience. At the rear of the stage or platform therewill preferably be displayed a scoreboard so that the spectators may beconstantly informed of the condition of the game and need not keep theirown scorecards. Information as to the progress of the game is receivedover the wires, and communicated immediately to the operators beneaththe stage, and they in turn perform for the benefit of the audience thesame play that is taking place in a distant city. In order to do so, thefigure toys employed in this performance must include a ball or balls, abat, and a number of marionettes.

In Fig. 1 is'shown a fine guide such as a wire 14 leading from a pointnear home base upward behind one of the drops and fastened in the roofof the stage. There I could be several of these wires, one nearlyupright as shown and others leading farther to the rear behind otherdrops such as 5. An inflated ball 15 stands within a cavity 16 in theplatform and has a ring 17 slidably mounted on the wire 14:, and a fineblack thread 18 leads upward from this ball over suitable pulleys to aweight 19 which is supported in some way behind the drop. When a fly isbatted, an operator removes the weight 19 from its support and infalling it jerks the ball 15 out of the cavity 16 and carries it up theguide. This simulates a fiy which is visible to the audience during itsascent but not during its descent, and some fielder or other player canthen be manipulated as explained below so as to show he catches the flyball when it falls. The ball 20 shown in full lines in Fig. 2 ascollapsed and in dotted lines as expanded, is connected by a conduitconsisting of a small rubber tube 21 with a bulb 23 whose rigid neckconstitutes the handle 22. And in this case the ball is rigidly mountedin a cup-shaped socket 24 at the upper end of a tubular staff 25 whichis of some considerable length, the neck or handle 22 being rigidlyconnected with the other or lower end of said staff as shown. Thetubular staff therefore constitutes a rigid guard for the conduit 21,and when this staff is moved along one of the slots in the platformwhile the ball is inflated, it simulates the moving of the ball alongthe ground on a line corresponding to that followed by the slot. Theoperator may even raise and lower the staff to simulate the bouncing ofa grounder when batted out into the field. There may be several of thesefigures, one for each of the slots radiating from home base and near thelatter, and the balls when collapsed will not be visible to theaudience. Thus it is possible to have several types of the ball figure,and in order to avoid confusion among the operators it may be well tomake the ball-bulbs of different shape or size from those bulbs whichare yet to be described.

In Fig. 3 is shown a bat 30 which may be pivoted at 31 to an uprightstaff 35 having a handle 32 at its lower end, and a link 33 may connectthe bat near its pivot with a manual or lever 34 movably mounted on thehandle. This figure is obviously for use by the operator who is workingthe marionette depicting the batter. The bat may be swung to simulate astrike by turning the handle and staff on their axis, and the bat may beraised and lowered by moving the lever 34 up and down.

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are shown different views of the marionettetypifying one of the players, and of these there should be quite anumber, part of them bearing the costume of one of the contesting teams,one of them bearing an umpires costume, and the remainder bearing thecostume of the other team. Said costumes are merely the cloth coveringsand caps, and need not be shown or further described. WVhile the same istrue of the mechanism for producing the movements in the parts ormembers of each marionette, I might say broadly that the figure hereshown comprises a fixed part 410 to which is hinged the upper bodyportion ll, and from which also hang the legs 12. From said body portionhang the arms 43, and on it is pivotally mounted a head 1 1. The supportfor the marionette is a rigid staff 55 having a handle 52 at its lowerend,

and a number of manuals or keys 54 are mounted on this handle andconnected by links or wires 53 with the several moving parts of thefigure, so that by manipulating these keys the player may be caused tostoop, to turn his head in one direction or the other, and to raise orlower either arm. I prefer that the movements of the legs to typifyrunning be controlled by links 56 connected with a wrist pin 57 on awheel 58 which is journaled in a base 59 carried by the staff 55, andstands in position to be rotated by its contact with the surface of theplatform alongside one of the slots as the operator moves the staffalong such slot. The application of the underlying principle of thisinvention to said marionette is carried out by the provision of a bulb45 whose neck 46 is securely attached to the handle 52, and a conduitconsisting of a rubber tube 47 leadin from said neck 11 ward along thestaff 55, to and past the shoulder joint as at 48, and down one arm 4-3as at 49 to a ball 50 which is carried in one hand and which whendeflated is so small as to be practically invisible. The operatorcarries this marionette by means of the handle 52 and manipulates itsparts by the keys or manuals 54, and when the figure is to catch a ballhe causes the arm 43 to rise and then presses the bulb 45 so that theball 50 is inflated and becomes visible. Or he may cause both arms torise, as when a fielder catches a ball, or he may cause the figure tostoop as in picking up a grounder. The head is moved mostoften when themarionette being operated is the pitcher, and a skilful operator cancause the pitcher to face the batter, take 'the ball in his hand andraise and lower it, glance over to first base at a runner who may bethere, then raise his arm and turn'his body, and finally appear to throwthe ball over home base with great forcethe bulb 45 at this moment beingreleased so that the ball 50 becomes invisible.

As is well known in the game of baseball, the operator who is nowworking the batter marionette must cause him to raise his bat and eitherlower it again and step back, or swing it to make a strike. If he makesa hit the ball can then be shown by the figure illustrated in Fig. 2 ifit is to move along one of the radial slots, or by the figureillustrated in Fig. 1 if it is to be moved both out over the field andupward to typify a fly. Immediately the operator who is working thebatter marionette must cause him to run toward first base as wellunderstood. But if the pitched ball is not struck, the operator workingthe catcher marionette will press the bulb and inflate the ball in hishands, meanwhile raising both arms as usual. Meanwhile the operatorworking the umpire marionette may cause him to perform the signalusually employed by an umpire, or might even also announce the workstrike or ball. As there may be several flies batted during a game, itmay be well when the teams change sides that the operator above theplatform reset his weight 19 and detach and let down hiswire or thread18 so that another inflated ball 15 can be attached to it from beneaththe stage; or it might be possible to have this ball infiatable by meansof a nipple and valve, and the operator above the stage could exhaustthe air so that the ball would hardly be seen, then let it down on thethread 18 to the position shown in full lines in Fig. l, and haveanother operator beneath the platform blow it up again. Obviously thecavity 16 and hole 17 should be large enough to contain and conceal atleast one ball, and preferably more.

I have purposely omitted much of the mechanical detail which is notessential to the understanding of this invention, but have amplifiedthose parts of the description which bear more particularly on theprinciple involveda principle which is the pneumatic inflation of a ballin play, while all other balls are meanwhile deflated and practically ifnot entirely invisible. I lay no claim to the mechanical movements ofthe marionette, excepting that I consider it novel in this connection toturn the head from side to sidea human movement which is very popularand in fact necessary with baseball pitchers. lVhen the operators attaintheir greatest skill in the manipulation of the marionettes, this headmovement can also be given to other players in the in field, such as thefirst and third basemen, the runners, and the umpire. I do not Wish t9be limited to the use of a weight for jerking the ball 15 upward tosimulate a fly, for it might be raised by other mechanical means or byhand, or it might possibly be that this ball could contain a light gasso that it would rise of its own accord when released.

In Fig. 1 I have shown one guide wire 14 as leading from home base outacross the field so that a play in which the ball is batted over thefence can be typified. This wire may pass over another wire 16 strungacross the stage above the fence, and an operator behind the lattercould move the guide wire 14 along the supporting wire so that the flycould be delivered over any desired point to the fence. A thread 18 willbe used for this purpose, and will pass over the guide wire to theoperator in the rear, who jerks on it when the ball is to move. I do notwish to be limited to the use of balls in the right hands of themarionette players because if the pitcher,

for instance in an original baseball game, is a left-hand thrower, themarionette player should likewise throw the ball with the left hand, andthe same may be said of the batter or any other player. lVhile it notnew broadly to have both hands move, their independent rise and fall areparticularly useful in a baseball game. hen a ball is to be caught, bothhands are raised to the desired height and the ball in one handinflated; and it may lend attractiveness to the performance depicted ifa skilful operator will. cause a marionette figure to stoop and reachout both hands to catch a grounder. To depict the throwing of a ball,the marionette player is made to drop one hand and raise the other withthe inflated ball in it, then to face the direction in which he is aboutto throw, and then to suddenly drop the raised hand, at which time theoperator deflates the ball to typify that it has left the players handand has been thrown. It is needless to say that, excepting when the ballis depicted as rolling or bouncing along the ground or as rising alongone of the guide wires, it is really not visible in its supposed passagefrom one point to another; but the illusion is almost as realistic asthe natural play wherein the eye can hardly follow through the air aball which has been thrown or batted swiftly.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In a miniature theatrical performance, the combination with aslottedplatform; of a marionette figure above the platform, and meansprojecting through a slot for inflating it and for moving it at willfrom a position beneath the platform.

2. In a marionette baseball performance, the combination with a platformbearing the field; of a ball, means for inflating it at will, and meansfor moving it to simulate its travel during the game.

3. In a marionette baseball performance, the combination with a platformbearing the field and having slots in it; of an inflatable ball abovethe platform, a bulb beneath the platform, a conduit connecting the balland bulb, and a guard surrounding the conduit where it passes through aslot.

4. In a marionette baseball performance, the combination with a platformbearing the field; of an inflatable ball, a handle, a bulb carried bythe handle, and a conduit connecting the bulb and ball, for the purposeset forth.

5. In a marionette baseball performance, the combination with a platformbearing the field and having openings through it; of a marionette figureincluding an inflatable ball, and means projecting through said openingsfor moving the figure and for inflating and deflating the ball tosimulate features of the game.

6. In a marionette baseball performance, the combination with a platformbearing the field and having slots on lines across it; of a marionettefigure including a ball, means for inflating the ball at will, and meansprojecting through a slot for moving the figure along said lines tosimulate its travel during the game.

7 In a marionette baseball performance, the combination with the ballfield having slots in it; of a ball, a staff supporting the ball andadapted to be moved in a slot, a handle On the staff, and pneumaticmeans leading from the ball along the stafi to a control on the handlefor inflating or defiating said ball.

8. In a marionette baseball performance, the combination with the ballfield having slots in it; of a ball, a tubular staff supporting theball, and pneumatic means at the lower end of the staff connectedthrough such staff with the ball for inflating or deflating it.

9. In a marionette baseball performance, the combination with the ballfield having slots in it; of a ball, a staff supporting the ball, ahandle at the lower end of the staff, a bulb on said handle, and aconduit extending along said staff and connecting the ball with the bulbfor inflating or deflating the ball by manipulating the bulb.

10. A marionette ball-player having a swinging arm, means to move themarionette, and meansto swing the arm; combined with an inflatable ballin the hand of said arm, and means to inflate or deflate said ball atwill, for the purpose set forth.

11. A marionette ball-player having a swinging arm, a staff forsupporting the marionette, and a manual on the staff to move the arm;combined with an inflatable ball in the hand of said arm, and pneumaticmeans on said staff for inflating or deflating said ball, for thepurpose set forth.

12. A marionette ball-player having a body portion and an arm pivoted atthe shoulder thereto, a rigid staff for support ing the marionette, ahandle at the end of the staff, a manual movably mounted on the handle,and connections between the handle and arm for swinging the latter;combined with an inflatable ball in the hand of said arm, a bulb on saidhandle, and a tube leading from the bulb along the stafi, past theshoulder pivot, along the arm, and connected with the bulb, for thepurpose set forth.

13. In a marionette baseball performance, the combination with aplatform bearing the ball field and having slots through it; of amarionette ball-player having movable members including a head, a rigidstaff adapted to pass through a slot and support the marionette abovethe platform, a handle at the lower end of the staff, manuals thereatwill, regardless of the movements of said 10 on connected With saidmoving parts and members.

including means for turning the head from In testimony whereof I ailixmy signature side to side, an inflatable ball in one hand of in presenceof two Witnesses. the marionette, a flexible conduit extending THOMAS HJACKSON thence up the arm, past the shoulderjoint,

and down the body and staff to said handle, Witnesses:

and means on the latter connected With said N. L. COLLAMER, conduit forinflating and deflating the ball JOHN L. FLETCHER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

